Le printemps est arrivé!

Finally spring has arrived, and with it our 1000 point festival! Here are some photos of students enjoying francophone culture & food while listening to our Manie Musicale winning songs. Merci to all who supported their children to shop for ingredients, prep in the kitchen, transport to school or clean up after them during the past few weeks of school. We couldn't have special events like this without your assistance. Merci beaucoup!

Mathieu made maple sugar gummy bear candy to represent Canada.

Mardi Gras & Manie Musicale en mars

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable winter, and perhaps, is looking forward to our next season as much as I am! Lately in French class we have been exploring Mardi Gras; it's history, traditions, and of course, a look at the French cultural influence in New Orleans, Louisiana. Grades 6 & 7A made Mardi Gras masks, and it was a fun & happy time for them to create. We laughed and shared some good times together. On Tuesday, March 5 (Mardi Gras) kids were challenged to answer questions in French and catch mardi gras beads which were randomly tossed. In March we participated in a statewide Manie Musicale. It sort of mimics March Madness but using popular French music videos, clean versions of course!

Laissez les bons temps rouler! ​is a popular slogan seen all over New Orleans during Mardi Gras festivities. ​It means: Let the good times roll!

La Manie Musicale 2019!

We recognized parts of the French songs. We sang along because some songs were really catchy. We enjoyed laughing together and sharing during the videos. The dancing was great. The lego video was awesome.

First we listened to all of the French music videos in class and on our own time. Then we filled out our brackets in class by choosing between our favorite French music videos. This is how we made our predictions for which song will win the Manie Musicale.

Quelle chanson gagnera? ​(Which song will win?)

We made posters of our favorite songs. We are excited to find out which song wins the competition!

Semester 1 came to a close with all classes celebrating French language & culture by participating in a Crêpe Fête where they got to try out the traditional French crêpe toss. Many students succeeded in catching their crêpe in the center of their plates! Stay tuned for some photos of the grade 8 class enjoying their last days with Mme. Utz & la classe de français. Au revoir mes amis!

Bonne Année 2019!

This year French classes are either semester or quarter long classes. As semester 1 and quarter 2 come to a close soon, it is time to summarize our learning, plan next steps to continue our language acquisition, and switch to new classes. It will soon be semester 2 & quarter 3. With it will come 4 new groups of excited students to the French classroom. I hope I can keep everyone energized, and motivated to learn about francophone culture while acquiring the French language! I look forward to meeting my new students on January 22, 2019. New students be sure to accept the invite to our French google classroom. à bientôt!

C'est DECEMBRE!

C'est décembre! We are busy in grade 6 learning how to say and write numbers 1-20, as well as greet people, say good-bye and sing some fun songs in French. Grade 7 is in the middle of a unit of study in which we discuss our likes and dislikes as well as those of others in French. Grade 8 is busy shopping for the holiday ~ en français! We wish everyone "Joyeuses Fêtes!"

​C'est NOVEMBRE!

In November with the start of quarter 2 comes the beginning of a new quarter of French for 2 grade 6 classes. They are busy learning classroom routines and expectations. They are beginning to earn points toward their Culture Fête. So far they are enjoying all of the movement, and singing we do in French class. Grade 7 is busy speaking about and writing about their individual families, and what is important to them about family. Sebago 7 will display a summary of their French learning at the Showcase on November 8th after school. Grade 8 is having a grand ol' time discussing what they eat for various meals of their days, and their food preferences. Soon we will create menus and skits that take place in cafés for our unit summary. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

C'est OCTOBRE!

We are very excited about presenting our learning through various performance based assessments! Grade 6 created French-speaking sock puppets, and performed puppet shows demonstrating their learning. Grade 7 created iMovies, skits and animations demonstrating their learning in our 1st unit. And grade 8 created model school day schedules and shopped for supplies that they needed to have an awesome school day. Here are some photos of our works in progress!

C'est La Rentrée!Welcome back to a new school year! In France they call the start of the school year, La Rentrée. This quarter the French classes are busy collecting items for our Culture Boxes which we will send to our ePals in France. We have also written letters of introduction to our ePals using some French we are learning in class. It is fun to have kids our age who attend French middle schools to discuss language and culture with. Thank you to all parents and guardians who supported their student to bring in a special item representing culture in Maine. I know that the French students will greatly appreciate your effort. We will post photos of the Culture Boxes we receive from our new friends in France, in October.

~ Joyeuses Fêtes & Bonne Année 2018 à tous ~​

Grade 8 period 6 experienced their Bon Appétît unit culmination with a French Café complete with the traditional French Bûche de Noël cake which you may know as a, Yule Log. We also had jazz music performed live by a student in our class, and Chocolat Chaud to drink! Fun was had by all. Though I did not take photos of this event, here are some photos of the Bûche de Noël.

SMS's new advisory program kicked off a Door Decorating Contest between advisories this year to contribute to team building & a positive school culture!

Here are some photos depicting what SMS French classes have been doing during the month of December. Grade 6 has been learning about classroom items & expressions. We are learning to sing Jingle Bells in French as well! Students are able to understand my spoken messages in French, & I am so proud of them all.

Grade 7 has been discussing their likes & dislikes in French. They are able to understand my spoken messages in French and respond appropriately in French. I am so proud of the effort they are putting in to "listen with the intent to understand"!

Grade 8 has wrapped up our Bon Appétît Unit 6 with a Menu project which involved demonstrating written understanding of unit vocabulary & recording skits in their restaurants in French. It was so wonderful to watch the students working collaboratively & productively on this project.

I wish all students & families a healthy 2018. I welcome you into my classroom whenever the moment is right for you to share in our collaborative learning of francophone language & culture! Please give me a heads up if you plan to visit.

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

French grade 6 classes enjoyed a Food Fête celebration of learning after their unit on Francophone countries. We enjoyed foods from Haiti, France, Canada, and even Djibouti!​

8th grader, Colby Wise, dishes up a perfect, Tarte aux Fruits, to his French class. We are fortunate to have such 'chefs extraordinaires' in our midst!

novembre 2017​

This month grade 6 French classes are working on their francophone culture projects. All information is located on our Google Classroom. We will be celebrating our learning in this unit the week of Thanksgiving break by sharing our culture slideshows, posters and brochures, as well as foods from francophone countries.

Grade 7 has been reading and writing back to their French ePals this month. Their letters include getting to know you type vocabulary & phrases, which we then practice on quizlets or on duolingo practice websites. The theme for these letters is Our School Day. We are waiting for our letters to return with lots of new vocabulary and phrases about the French kids' school day. We are sending recordings of our school to our ePals and we hope to receive the same from them!

Grade 8 has been reviewing Units 1-3 from last year and memorizing numbers 1-100 in various higher order thinking number games. They are starting their Unit 6 on Food which can be found on my course syllabus located in the resources drop down menu of this page. Also their quizlets from Unit 6 are good to memorize and I expect 40 minutes outside of class time per week memorizing the spelling and pronunciation of our Unit vocabulary. Period 6 will experience the unit language by practicing using it in a Food Fête the week of Thanksgiving. Sign up on our Google Classroom. Period 3 is writing to our ePals in Cannes, France about our Thanksgiving holiday using our unit vocabulary! ​

La Rentrée 2017-2018

This school year in French class has gotten off to a fabulous start! Grades 6-8 meet every other day for class. We have spent time with basic greetings and leavetakings, and telling basic information about ourselves, like our age, how we're doing and where we live. All grade 7-8 classes have gotten off to a great start with their ePal Project corresponding with various middle schools around France. We are enjoying learning French through total physical response storytelling, which involves creatively building stories around basic French target language structures. The best part of this popular language teaching approach is that the kids take turns ACTING out the French stories. Grade 6 has been learning all about Le Monde Francophone, and are in the middle of a Culture Project on a Francophone country. We look forward to Food Fêtes around Thanksgiving!

Allons au café!

We're off to Sips of Europe Café on June 5th for a chance to use our restaurant French to order crêpes and other yummy foods & drinks! Here are some photos of grade 8 advanced French, which meets daily, enjoying their last French field trip of middle school.

​The Home Stretch!

Le Printemps est arriv´ee à Saco Middle School finalement! We are finishing our year in French class with several hands-on, student-centered projects which will summarize our year together.

Our French Storybook Project: We use French from each of our units of the school year to make a creative digital storybook in French which we share with someone at home & listen to the teacher read to us. More details are on our Google Classroom.

Culture Week: The last 2 weeks of May we will create a slideshow on a Francophone country in which we compare & contrast several cultural aspects of the country with our own. We will end the week with a Gallery Walk and Food Festival with yummy treats from around the francophone world. You are welcome to join us for that if you would like. Just email me or call me at school to give me a heads up that you'll be joining us. Merci!

Final Summative Evaluation: The first 2 weeks of June will be devoted to reviewing the key vocabulary & phrases from each Unit of Study in various formats, and then choosing between several projects which will demonstrate a novice low-mid level of language proficiency in several key modes of communication. More details to come on our Google Classroom.

Le Musée d'Art à Portland était FORMIDABLE!Here are some photos of Grade 8 Advanced exploring French impressionism, cubism, pointism, sculpture & photography at the Portland Museum of Art on February 15th, 2017. We thoroughly enjoyed extending our classroom learning to the world of art & culture. We saw landscapes of the south of France where our teacher lived & where our ePals in Cassis, France live. We learned expressions like "Tromp d'oeil", which means "trick of the eye". One painter made money which looked so real he was arrested! We enjoyed the thoughtful way our docents connected the artwork and styles of painting with our own lives, and our interests, making learning about French impressionism more meaningful for us. We liked receiving free passes to visit again with our families. Even our bus driver received a Free Family Pass, and was excited to visit.

Our docent, Katia, explains how impressionists used colors & brush strokes to capture the feeling of the moment in this southern French fishing village.

Grade 8 advanced will venture to Le Musée d'Art à Portland, le 15 février. We are excited to view the French Collection which offers us a view of many French landscapes & a glimpse into French culture through the eyes of many famous French artists. Here is a video of the style of art we will view: Impressionism. Vous l'aimez? (Do you like it?) ~ Ça vous plaît? (Do you like it?)​

Here are some photos of Grade 7 & 8 working on their Unit 2 Summative Assessments for our Sports & Activities unit. They chose between Interviews, Letters, Board Games & Songs depending on their learning style preferences, to demonstrate learning on our most recent unit of study.

Bienvenue Mme. Kennedy!Mille fois merci to Mrs. Kennedy for sharing stories & photos from her recent trip to Paris & Normandy, France with our grade 8 classes. She helped provide us with authentic materials which really made French language & culture come alive for us. We thank her for the time & effort that was necessary to share her experience with us and give us a new opportunity for learning. Merci beaucoup Mme!

The beginning of Trimester 2 has gotten off to a great start! We received another round of correspondences from our French ePals, and when we return from holiday break we will respond in emails telling them in French what we did during vacation, and asking them what they did. We will watch the tours of the French middle schools which they have sent us, as we compare and contrast school in France with school in the USA. The advanced French class did some holiday caroling in French around the building on the day before vacation and I think their choreographed danced moves WOW-ed a great many (either that, or the candycanes they were tossing to the eager audiences!) January will bring a wrap-up of our Activities and Sports Unit 2 with grade 7, more work on likes and dislikes with grade 8, including how to use the basic 4 verbs in the present tense ETRE/AVOIR/FAIRE/ALLER, and the advanced class will move toward a more rigorous, Thornton Academy prep, as they will be completing Level 1 French in the next 5 months, and be ready to start Level 2 French at TA in the fall as freshmen! Joyeuses Fêtes à Tous!

We have had a busy fall in French. We learned various routines to build consistency in Mme. Utz's French classes. We learned to use our language partner charts, and that Mme. Utz's classes focus predominantly on speaking and listening to the language. Mostly we learned to respect each other and the goals of our language classroom, while working collaboratively with our peers. The grade 8 classes are wrapping up a Unit of Study called Bon Appétît! We will have a chance to demonstrate using the language structures and vocabulary from the unit in a restaurant scene, created either through acting it out or creating a dazzling iMovie. The students will be assessed this week in several language function categories while presenting their skit or iMovie to the class, and offering yummy food items from their selected francophone countries to the class, en français, bien sûr!